My Personal Hell, D. Richardson [ebook reader browser txt] 📗

everything that she needs.”

“She’s in a glorified cage! She hasn’t eaten in days. Today she bloodied her hands trying to scratch her way out. And why? Because some sorry excuse of living trash told you to do it!” I had crossed the line. I knew it and more importantly he did too.

I basically just told him that he was following another’s orders. That he didn’t control his own pack, instead he was nothing more than a puppet. And as much as I respected the man, I had to admit that that was what I saw.

“I think you’ve become too invested in this girl. It would be best if you didn’t see her anymore.” He said it calmly as he took his seat, and I knew it was an order.

If I disobeyed he would kick me off the territory. There was nothing I could do. I wouldn’t visit her again until he told me otherwise. I took a deep breath and turned to leave. At the door I stopped and half turned back.

“Ailith, that girl’s name is Ailith.” I stomped out.

I hadn’t bothered to close the door before I had stormed into the office, so anyone who was bothering to pay attention had heard the entire thing. Asher stood leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. He met my eyes and instead of the usual sneer, he gave me an affirming nod. Almost like he agreed with me for a change. That gave me a little hope. That maybe she wouldn’t be totally alone after all. Others would advocate for her in my absence. I only hoped that she didn’t think I had abandoned her.

 

 

 

Drake

 

 

 

I flinched when the front door slammed shut. I regretted denying her to him, but it was to late to fix it. He had issued a challenge and I had had to meet it. He felt passionately for the girl. Ailith. I had subconsciously depersonalized her, to make up for the guilt I felt at locking her up.

“He’s right you know,” Becca said levelly. I turned to her, she had stood from her chair. As she made her way to the front of my desk she continued speaking.

“Becca, please don’t start. You know what Tom said. She could be dangerous, we have to make sure she’s safe to be around.”

“Yes, that does seem to be Tom’s opinion.” I ran a hand through my hair.

“What do you expect me to do?” I felt desperate.

My kids have been alienating me since that lock had turned. Even my men have been avoiding me. Only answering when I ask a direct question, and only acting when I issued a direct order. Now Sadler had completely overstepped, and he had once been my most loyal male. She raised her brows at me.

“Get a second opinion.” She turned and left without another word.

I sighed and looked down at my desk. Then it occurred to me that she was right. Tom was our pack doctor, but he consulted with other packs as well. Surely he wasn’t the only one to do so.

I picked up my phone and started to call an old friend of mine. He was the alpha of a pack that was quite a distance away. But I had heard that his doctor was very talented for being so young. I had also heard that he did special research on half breeds and lone wolves. Apparently the subjects fascinated him.

Chapter 12

Ailith

 

 

 

It had been three days since Sadler had visited last. He had left me. I guess he had seen a little too deeply into my thoughts, and had run the other way. I didn’t blame him. I had heard that a lot of guys couldn’t handle crying.

I was a little ashamed of how I had acted. I hadn’t cried in front of anyone since I was eleven. But it didn’t really matter anymore. I was back to staring out the glass window. But I hadn’t realized how much Sadler’s presence had meant to me. Without him to keep me connected to the rest of the world, even for those short hours, I didn’t even bother to sleep in the bed anymore.

I just fell asleep leaning against the wall. I only ever got up to use the bathroom. The food came and went, but I didn’t even have anyone to eat for anymore. I was completely alone. My wolf had almost completely retreated only giving the occasional whine, when my thoughts turned back to Sadler. She missed him. Maybe even more than I did.

I wished for him to come back. Over and over again I prayed and hoped. If only so I could ask what I had done wrong, and promise never to do it again. But instead I was left alone. I didn’t even bother to turn the music on anymore. I just sat and stared until I couldn’t even see anything. I could feel myself slipping away.

I only wished that if I was going to go crazy, that it would happen already. Anything would be better than this. If I was forced to be here anymore, I didn’t want to be coherent. For the first time in my life, I wished for insanity.

 

 

 

Drake

 

 

 

The new doctor was supposed to arrive any minute. I hadn’t even had the chance to tell him what was going on. As soon as I said I had a half breed lone female he told me he would be here in two days and hung up. His alpha had called me later to tell me that the doctor had been so excited that he had started packing immediately, pausing only long enough to get someone to take over his patients while he was gone.

I was told that his name was Jason and he was twenty eight years old. Young for a pack doctor, especially one that managed to get his name known well enough that I would have heard of him. It wasn’t long after I had gotten off the phone with him that I had told everyone he was coming.

Suddenly the warmth that I used to receive came back, and my household stopped feeling frigid. The girls even started talking to me again. We had told them that Ailith was sick and needed to be left alone. I should have known that we couldn’t fool them for long. After all, they had seen her in much worse conditions.

I still remembered the tantrum that Kadi had thrown. I had raised seven kids, and two of them were girls, and werewolves besides. But none of them compared to this little half breed girl. She walked in from school and demanded to see Ailith. Later I found out that she had gotten an A on some project, and really wanted to share it with the young woman that had raised her for so long.

But by the time that Lori had been able to calm her there were broken dishes, toppled chairs, and all sorts of gunk dripping down the walls. The end result was her crying and Lori leading her out of the room only to give me an icy glare before getting out of sight.

The morning that the doctor was going to show up I had finally swallowed my pride and called Sadler. When I told him about the second opinion I was seeking all I got for a moment was a relieved sigh. And then a quiet question as to whether he would be allowed to be there. I owed him quite an apology, but it didn’t compare to the one I would owe Ailith if it turned out that I had followed the wrong advice. But I hadn’t even told Tom what I was doing, and he was not to be allowed into the house until it was all said and done.

So there I was sitting at my desk with my ears trained on the driveway. At noon almost exactly I heard wheels on the gravel. We were so far out of town that no one showed up without a reason. Which meant that he was finally here. I made sure to be the one to open the door. This young man had been so excited that if anyone else had greeted him, he would probably be up in her room before I ever laid eyes on him.

I opened the door to see a tall gangly man with glasses and dark brown hair that badly needed trimming. Before I could even get the door closed behind him I saw Sadler pull up and jump out of the car, almost before he could turn it off. I waited until he was inside, before directing them both to my office.

Asher and Becca were already sitting in two of the three available chairs that I had when we entered. I motioned for the young man to sit down, and Sadler immediately staked out the corner that he usually stood in.

“So…where is she?” Jason asked with an eager expression.

“First I think we need to discuss a few things about the current situation,” I told him as I took my seat.

“Oh, okay,” he looked crest fallen, like a puppy that had just been yelled at for piddling on the carpet.

“Now, my own pack doctor told me that she is very rare.” The excitement returned almost immediately.

“Oh yes, so rare you might call her unique. What is her name?” The question surprised me. Most doctors often referred to rare specimens as he, she, or it.

“Ailith,” Sadler had been the one to answer. His posture spoke of hope and oddly like he was trying really hard to give the cold shoulder. I didn’t have to guess who it was aimed at.

“And how old is Ailith?” this time Jason directed the question directly to Sadler.

“Seventeen.”

“And she just recently discovered her wolf?”

“Yes, she didn’t even know what she was, she had been raised by humans.” Jason nodded at the answer.

“Yes, quite unique,” he murmured as he looked at the carpet, seemingly deep in thought.

“Your thoughts Doctor?” I asked irritably. They were talking right over me as if I hadn’t been the one to schedule the meeting.

“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just that…half breeds are considerably different from full blooded werewolves. The same as a wolf in the wild is different to a half wolf half any other breed, really. Some are more aggressive, some more meek, it all depends on the breed it’s crossed with.

“But she’s half human, while that makes a difference, it’s the same concept. Her relationship with her inner wolf is the same and yet separate. While we may be able to carry on conversations with our wolves, it’s only on rare occasions. In the case of a challenge, when we shift, or if we encounter our mates.

“But half breeds are always able to contact their wolf. It’s almost like two consciousnesses in the same body. While that may sound disastrous it’s quite the opposite. They are able to live in harmony with their wolves, two beings completely in sync with each other. It also gives them an advantage.

“While we run purely on instinct in some situations while in our human form, a half breed can gain insight and advice from their other half. It’s also been proven that their shifts are smoother and more controlled. It allows